Ukraine
this week got its European and American allies to promise to deliver heavy tanks as soon as possible with which to deal with Russian troops on the plains of the Donbas.
Starting at the end of March and throughout the spring, German-made Leopard 2s, American Abrams and
British Challenger 2s
will arrive waiting for French President Emmanuel Macron to decide whether to send their
Leclercs.
Ukrainian diplomacy had been desperately asking for it for months, but for Kiev
it is not enough
because Russia still has air superiority in Ukraine.
Starting at the end of March and throughout the spring, German-made Leopard 2 will arrive.
Photo: AP
fighter planes
So the next step, consistent with their strategy and at the same time with that of the Europeans and the Americans, is to keep pushing, now for
fighter jets.
An adviser to Defense Minister Oleksy Reznikov told Reuters they are now working "on the next big hurdle, fighter jets."
The Ukrainian Air Force has dozens of fighter jets manufactured in plants in the Soviet Union
more than 30 years ago.
They are inferior to the most modern Russian MIGs and barely fly so as not to expose themselves.
When they do, they are limited to trying to intercept Russian planes.
Ukraine
has not produced combat aircraft
since its independence 31 years ago.
The Ukrainians hope that in Europe and the United States they will begin to talk about the possibility of delivering modern combat aircraft to Kiev, such as
the American F-16
(which is also in many European arsenals), the
French Rafale or the Swedish Gripen
that it manufactures .
Saab.
They are known as the
fourth generation of combat aircraft
, capable of facing the most modern Russian combat aircraft with guarantees.
That same adviser recognized that "if we get (Western fighter jets) the advantages on the battlefield
will be immense
. "
At the start of the war, the possibility of delivering these planes to Ukraine or of NATO member states establishing a no-fly zone over the country with them had already been debated for months.
The Ukrainians hope that in Europe and the United States they will begin to talk about the possibility of delivering aircraft such as the F-16 to kyiv.
The risks
The idea was rejected because it could have involved
direct air clashes between Russian planes and NATO planes
if the Russians had decided to fly over Ukraine.
Most European governments saw it as an escalation in the war that could
spill out of Ukraine
.
European diplomatic sources recall that the same was said about the heavy tanks and
their delivery has already been approved.
The same Ukrainian Defense adviser said: “They didn't want to give us heavy artillery, but they did.
They didn't want to give us the Himars (short range rocket launchers) and they did.
They did not want to give us the tanks and they are going to give us the tanks.
Except for nuclear weapons,
there is nothing that we are not going to be able to achieve”.
US Army M1A1 Abrams tank.
Photo: Reuters
The European sources
corroborate these speeches
although they do so from another argument.
Beyond fears of
an uncontrolled escalation of the war,
they believe that the Europeans and Americans
have already gone too far
to abandon the Ukrainians now.
Long-range missiles, too
And that if the delivery of the fighter jets is deemed essential in the face of further Russian advances, which
are expected next spring,
it will be hard not to start sending them to Kiev.
In addition to planes,
Ukraine also wants long-range missiles.
Doubts remain because the European capitals and Washington want to be sure that President Volodimir Zelenski
will not order attacks on Russian territory with these weapons
.
It is also unclear whether they would allow Ukraine to use them to attack Crimea, a Ukrainian province forcibly annexed by Russia in 2014.
The European governments are advancing positions and the NATO Defense Ministers will meet on February 14 and 15 in Brussels so that Valentine's Day enlightens them.
Brussels, special for
Clarín
ap
look too
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